Map baking in Zbrush vs. Xnormal
polycounter lvl 9
Whats the main reasons (for a newbie in this topic like me) for baking maps (displacement 16 and 32 bit, normal maps...) in Xnormal instead of Zbrush (4R6 for example). Currently im doing it in zbrush but i have heart that its better to do in xnormal, why that exactly? More compatibility of the resulting maps (in which appliacations)?
thank you for tips
thank you for tips
Replies
Use completely different meshes for the lowpoly and highpoly (good for when the highpoly contains multiple meshes, floating geometry, etc)
Specify the tangent basis of the normal map
Have control over a mesh's vertex normals
Bake more map types
Preview maps as they bake, and instantly saves them out instead of making you take a few steps to do so
Xnormal uses the "MikkT Tangent basis" (you also can use your own tb plug-in), which gives proper results in most common game engines, while bakes from zbrush and mudbox often cause lighting and seam issues.
It depends on which "tangent basis" your baker and target engine uses.